On February 5th, it’s been 9 months since the guys were ambushed, and the driver was murdered. And we are just waiting and waiting for something to happen that will get Joshua and Tjostolv closer to Norway, even if it’s just a transfer to Kinshasa. But Joshua and Tjostolv are still in prison in Kisangani, despite more or less energetic attempts to have them transferred to the capitol city. It’s hard to know what is going on. We read in Dagbladet that lawyer Kibambe said that they probably will stay in Kisangani when the Supreme Court meets in Kinshasa. Lawyer Furuholmen has made it very clear that this is not acceptable.
We heard rumours that the Supreme Court was going to meet today (February 1st) to start the deliberation of the case. Neither the Foreign Ministry nor Furuholmen have received a copy of the last verdict yet. The Foreign Ministry should’ve been able to get it now that special envoy Arild Øyen was in Kinshasa, but we have no information about that. Monuc (UN) has not gotten an official request from the Congolese authorities to fly the guys to the capitol.
Morten Strøksnes (Norwegian author) wrote in his article (which we have published with his blessing) that the only thing that will make a difference is heavily political pressure. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry should work with the EU, UN and Great Britain – and follow up lawyer Furuholmens appeals to the state of legal authorities, he writes. To this we say “Yes” and “Amen”.
This pressure is long overdue as far as I see it, and especially now BEFORE the Supreme Court treats the case. In the type of situation that the guys are in, its absolutely necessary that the Foreign Ministry shows forceful action at once and gets their citizens out. That forceful action didn’t emerge, not even in the “grace period” that was between the first verdict and the appeal when Tjostolv got so sick. What is the help in some notes now and then that so far hasn’t made any difference? Norway speaks with big words about human rights, but what about the human rights of the two Norwegians who are sentenced to death for something they are not guilty of?
The boys are finally going to have some visitors. The Foreign Ministry who hasn’t been there since December 9th, has now sent a representative from the embassy in Angola. He is as far as we know arriving in Kisangani today. The seaman’s priest, Knut Lyngseth (not the one who was there for Christmas) is also on his way, and we are waiting to hear what date he arrives. We asked them to bring different things for Tjostolv and Joshua, including what they need in their clinic. They are running out or iodine, ointments, bandages, thread to stitch wounds and cuts with etc. They also need medication.
Today I had to laugh when I read something in the newspaper Vårt Land (Our Country). A top health bureaucrat Preben Aavitsland has written on his Twitter the following about Joshua’s grandfather:
“Olav Hodne (Joshua’s grandfather) was a chief of the Sandal-mission (Santal-mission). Many hundred thousand Africans got new footwear as a result of his work.”
Maybe some Congolese in Kisangani walks around in sandals from the Santal-mission in India where Joshua’s grandfather worked? One of the most famous missionaries in India was William Carey and he was a professional shoemaker in England before becoming a missionary, linguist, author and the founder of Serampore College. It’s probably because of him that Joshua’s grandfather supplied large amounts of footwear to Africa. Now Olav Hodne’s grandson continues in his footsteps. Not exactly making shoes, but sewing cuts and making fellow inmates healthy in the prison he’s in. Maybe they should start a workshop in the prison as well, of making shoes?
Kari Hilde French, February 1st 2010
